Restaurant Review: The Breakfast Nook

In the glory days of the eighties and nineties, the breakfast hot spot in Coeur d'Alene was the old Rustler's Roost on Sherman Avenue. Woody and the gals served up huge portions of North Idaho's finest morning fare until suddenly the lease ran out and they fled to Hayden, leaving a gaping hole in downtown breakfast options. In the little shack where the Roost was born, a series of restaurants came and went, none of which were quite able to leave much of an impression on the local breakfast scene. That is, until the "Big Cock" took over. That was our nickname for the place, inspired by the extra large domestic fowl featured on the otherwise wordless light-up sign that hung on the building above the door.

With a winning combination of good location, friendly service, and large amounts of food for a very reasonable price, The Breakfast Nook was an instant hit and the place was packed full of people from day one. Some weeks I found myself dining there two or three times. We panicked a few years later after the announcement came that the building would be razed to make way for some high-rise condos. It was a relief to hear the owners were scouting for a new location, and that they were also opening a Nook in Post Falls (haven't visited hat location yet.)

So after nine dry months of poor substitutions (IHOP - no personality; Michael D's - too spendy; Rockin' Robin - questionable staff) the Big Cock has returned to Coeur d'Alene in a larger, newly remodeled building on North 4^th Street that was an A&W restaurant when I was a kid and has been dozens of various things since (Cheers Sports Bar, a Subaru Dealer...)